Sleepless night spent sitting in the chair.

So I just caught an earlier bus to the Western General and took my kindle to sit and read (next one of Peter Richie's trilogy).    Fortunately I was taken early, and one of the nurses gave me a cuppa while I was between stops,   saw the specialist, had MRI and Ultrasound (even met friends outside the MRI unit) - bottom line, good news, very minor damage, nothing that a few days rest will not cure.   Going back in a month for a double take.

In the meantime Dougz and Iain B had turned up at the Grill and eventually came up to see me at home, even brought through two of my model trains which had been repaired.

Turns out that Steve Bolton has also bought himself a new BMW RT,  so it is fair enough of me to show the new stable mate for the Steed of Steel.

Must have been the excitement of writing the last blog, because

ten minutes after finishing it, I took what is now commonly known as a TAI, a wee mini stroke,  just  lost the power in my right arm and side of face,  which has since returned to normal.   However, realising what had happened we called NHS 24 , which, after a long wait for a reply, was a bit of a bore, and they then called an ambulance for me.      Ended up back in the busy casualty department of the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, at 8.15 p.m.  and was eventually kept for twenty four hours before going home.   Next stop is the specialist clinic at Western general tomorrow.

Missed my Saturday episode of Casualty, but the real thing was relatively quiet this time.

The Tartan Army will be pleased that Scotland won last night, even managed a hat trick, but lost a goal.

Having a quiet day now,  reading Peter Ritchie's books, first class stories.

Not old news yet, but certainly disturbing news.

I am thinking about the air crash in France where in now transpires that one hundred and fifty innocents were slaughtered by a mentally unstable co pilot, who wished to "make a name for himself"  What a tragedy, but one which now has caused major headaches for airlines who can no longer one pilot to remain at the controls alone.   In this instance it could have been avoided had the pilot been able to gain access to the cockpit, however, measures put in place to combat aircraft hijacking proved effective, but fatal for those on board.
We now have aircraft which can land without anyone at the controls, but so far no one has officially sanctioned unmanned aircraft.
Prior to this latest revelation about the co pilot, I had joined the conspiracy theorists who have been debating about the previous air crashes, missing Malaysian plane, etc.,  and it reminded me on one of the plots in an earlier James Bond movie where groups of young ladies were brainwashed at a clinic in Switzerland, then became "sleepers" until awakened to commit murders.   Now just imagine if this has happened to a number of airline pilots !!!! , might just have an adverse effect on air passenger numbers.    Take this a stage further,  was the Captain of the Concordia really showing off to some of his lady passengers ?    Now I know why train drivers go through such a rigorous training,  even bus drivers,  the mind boggles -  just what form and for what insane reason will the next major tragedy occur - just feeding ideas to the barmy.

Different topic,   well done Heart of Midlothian for their promotion to the Premier League,  and today they had yet another win, extending their unbeaten run of games.     Someone suggested that we should let Hearts play Iceland tomorrow instead of Scotland -  But, I am sure Scotland will not let down the Tartan Army.  Met one of their members last night William Wood at Loanhead, whose father was my first Sgt. when I came back to Scotland, and who is also now a friend of Jim Wilkie, owner of Wilkie's Bar, Leith, who we know well and have travelled abroad with..

Down at Duns today to see Andrew Mimms at Border Bikes very busy, and who is going to fit a new fuel pump on the Steed of Steel, which hopefully will be back on the road later in the week, which means I might just be able to make the Easter egg run to the children's hospice at Robin's House, Balloch, next weekend.    BUT - watch this space to get details of a new stable mate for the Steed.

Met one of the "Widow's Sons"  last night at the RA Loanhead, Honour Concorde and Fidelity, who has just got himself a Harley Davidson trike, and will be accompanied by his dog, complete with flying jacket and goggles (need to wait for a photo).  Sad to hear that member Bob McCulley is very poorly in the Marie Curie Hospice, but fighting hard against his illness - hang in there Bob.

Lots of interest in the doggie weekend at the Mercat Grill on 23 / 24/ 25th April,  tried to get help from the K9 Dept but the dog handler I was talking to is away on holiday.

Just wondering if the SRU would send Mrs B. one of their "wooden spoons" which she could then use to make extra special meringues.

Currently consuming a nice bottle of Kumala Eternal Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz,   sadly I do not have a second one hand as Mrs B used it to poach pears a couple of nights ago!!!  did I not tell her off,  now living in fear and afraid to go to sleep first at night.   Please keep this in mind in case my name appears in the Evening News.

Reminds me of waiting for the surgeon's report,

Meaning that the Steed of Steel is now away for a check up and some T L C  at Border Bikes,  just have to wait and see what is wrong.

Busy weekend at the Grill, despite Scotland earning yet another wooden spoon on Saturday, however better news for the "jambo" fans with Heart of Midlothian FC earning themselves promotion back to top flight next season.

Bit chaotic at the  Mercat Grill on Saturday as half a dozen dogs arrived with their owners to check the place out before the big doggie event - weekend of 23rd/24th and 25th April.

Having put my back out last week I had a bit of physio massage today, have found a new Cruella, lordi lord, could not even get off the table after she had finished,   however, I am led to believe that I will feel a new person later !!!
Then came home and had a bash at walking using Nordic poles - not as easy as it looks, and certainly works a lot more muscles than normal walking - but worth a try as my new Dr. wants me fit again.

Sparky Mark now off on his travels in the Himalayas once again, probably in search of a female yeti to become his bride!!!   Best of luck.

Seeing the eclipse was just a case of the luck of the draw.

I was down at the Mercat Grill, Whitecraig,  waiting patiently for the event, sun shining and a clear window in the skies,  then , sods law, big moment arrived and I had to make do with brief snatches through the broken cloud.

It did get dark,  and I even heard some folks later commenting on how dark it had been earlier, oblivious to the heavenly event which had just taken place.

Might be an omen,  maybe Scotland and Andy Murray can eclipse their forthcoming opponents over the weekend !!! 

Still jet lagged, bit odd for a wee spring break

Must have been the fact that we were away for two weeks that has made the difference this time.   Zonked out by 8.30 p.m. and listening to the birdies at 0500 -   Then for me who was always wanting a lie in, up and out the house by 0630, heading for the Grill and then having to wait for sytem to drop figures on my PC at 0800.

Anyway, despite the change in temperature from Egypt, we have had really nice days since returning and the old body has adjusted nicely,  but with a crooked back I am not getting out quite as much as I would like.

Was called a moaning minnie  the other day because I commented on the fact that trying to get into the Royal Infdirmary, Edinburgh, was like running the gauntlet.  Bloody terrible, signs up everywhere saying no smoking, adverts on the radio saying the same, and there they were,  in their droves, puffing twenty to the dozen , and directly under the signs.   And coincidently, last night on Eastenders there was a shot with one of the cast doing the same,  perhaps the writers were trying to make a point.

Edinburgh City Council have just announced that they are £1.5 Billion in debt !!!!!!!!!!!!   wonde how that is,  not that the £900 K for the tram works had anything to do with that.

BUT  if they are like many other Councils there is an iuncredible amount of  money wasted by ill thought out projects.   Several years ago Midlothian Council spent a fortune on traffic calming along the A701 into Penicuik, and they are now removing all the things they previously installed !!  Waste of money and a total inconvenience to motorists on this busy commuter route.    Midlothian have also had teams out working on reinstaing pavements out in the wilds - not happy with wasting money there,  they are hell bent on slowing everyone up by setting up temporary traffic lights -  just a bit infuriating to sit in a queue and see the workies relaxing in their vans, or standing texting on their mobiles.

Steed of Steel still remains in the garage awaiting repair - not a happy time.

Bit of a shock to the system yesterday.

left Sharm el Sheik  at a comfortable 28 C and arrived in Glasgow at 2 C -  bit of a difference.  Slowish trip along the M8 due to the big diversion off the M8 by Whitburn and Bathgate and then the diversion signs disappeared so it was follow that star  !!

Home at 12 mn,   no central heating on and house was like a morgue -  even worse getting between the cold sheets and trying to get warm -  I think we should just head back to the sun again - chance would be a good thing.

Leaving Sharm took an eternity to get through the various security checks, just meant we had very little time to wait before boarding.   Flight with Thompson Airlines was pretty good, especially with the extra leg room.   Arrived early at Glasgow but had the longest wait ever to get through the passport / immigration controls,   only four staff on the desks, and a lot of foreign visitors coming through off a European flight, and the new electronic passport readers not yet up and running.

Breezy again this morning, but despite this, back to 31 C

No complaints whatsoever,  out on the beach with books at 0700, watching sun up till 0800 then quiet breakfast.  Sounds bad but you then need a nap after breakfast !!   me , I am on the final book of the trilogy,  Girl who kicked the Hornets Nest,  superb story -  just great to be able to chill out and read.

Felt a bit off pm so had to give my daily swim a miss,  just one of the things I need to cope with - and certainly not as a result of overindulgence.

Kind of lost the plot a bit after a session of people watching the dining room,  how some of the clients can be so rude and ignorant to the staff is beyond me -  as commented,  the Cardinal sins of Gluttony and Pride spring to mind.  We have staff here who work from 0630 to 12mn or 10 am till 2 am. for about £140 (A MONTH) with ten days off after every thirty days  straight through.    No point in me going on about it, but lacking in basic manners, hygiene, etc.,  fortunately for the Brits here, the Russians are even worse.

Tonight I had a super dinner, Chefs even made me a lovely dish of fried calamari - brilliant. no complaints at all about the choices on offer.

Only downside of the day was Scotland losing out in the Calcutta match against England, once again we are brilliant at coming in second.

But, I always have tomorrow's sunrise to look forward to.

Sun up, slightly less of a breeze this morning.

Just a bit of an understatement following yesterday's somewhat "stiff" breeze by the sea,  trees at forty five degrees, bunkered down behind the windbreaks,  but despite that the sun shone and the hardy had a quiet day on a nearly deserted beach.

Took ourselves out to the Chinese themed restaurant last night, and had the most wonderful crispy duck - fantastic - well worth the £9 supplement.

Bit of a struggle,  but must head back to beach.

0715 and on the beach, very pleasant, nice time to sit and relax before breakfast.

Now 0845 and temperature creeping up towards the expected 32c today.

Lots going on last night,  our friendly military helicopter was patrolling the bay late on and for quite a while,  unless they were listening to the music coming from the party night next door, or perhaps some of the delegates for the conference were at the party.

Thought you might like to see some of the staff who keep us going with beautiful cakes and pastries.

 In true Blue Peter style,  look what I made earlier.

These are the brains behind the kitchen where there are about sixty chefs working.

  Real artists, just a shame folks do not appreciate the skills and effort that goes into these delightful works of art.

Oops , my mistake with the duplicate photo.     This Windows 8.1 is still driving me daft.  

 

Anyway, away back out to the sun and my book,   just finished one by Nelson Demille, written in 2000, called The Lions Game, I really enjoyed his style of writing.      Still have to download my three books by Peter Richie, once I fathom out how to do it.

Kind of contrasting incidents yesterday by the beach.

Once again, a lovely day and out early.  Took myself out for a paddle in the bay, along with camera, (as one does), hat and sunglasses,  when skimming along the bay came one mean looking helicopter which is obviously part of the enhanced security for the conference which starts later in the week.

 It was up and down the Gulf a couple of times during the day and also again in the evening .

Heading back to the shore I spied a trio of Nordic walkers on the beach,  definitely easier than going up and down hills methinks,    my kind of hillwalking !!

Never mind,  God loves a trier, and it could be me today.

Been a roasting day today, wind dropped and the restbis history - 35 C

Up with the birds this morning, including a local kestrel  who is hunting around the spa area.

Seas were smooth first thing,

hot all day,  had a nice wander around part of the resort,  but with security being a primary objective, there are increased guards and police in the area - we just have to cooperate and accept delays.

Our catering staff are first class, always doing their best to be helpful, and so far we have had no complaints about the quality of the food.

This group are from the restaurant where we have breakfast and lunch - and occasionally an evening meal.

Sun still shining and with the wind gone now very hot here,

But no need to complain at all,  with so much snow elsewhere, why else am I here.

Took myself out on a walkabout today,  and met these young ladies who are responsible for looking after the youngsters, and of course, the likes of me.   Although I was seriously tempted to have a go on the Death Slide, it is perhaps better that I avoid heart stopping activities.

Headed off down South as they say, but just a wee bit further.

Busy weekend at the Grill with a Wine Dinner on Saturday, four courses and four wines, excellent.  So on Sunday we left for Glasgow, and stayed the night at the Normandy Hotel,  where on Sunday night we met up with Maureen and Craig, friends who we met several years ago in Barbados where they were married.  Had a lovely meal and great catch up.    Monday morning, headed to the airport where we headed off "south eastwards"  to Egypt, seeking the sun and getting away from the snow and wintry weather at home.  For once we have broken with tradition and returned to a hotel we have previously visited.  I am always apprehensive that a return visit will be a disappointment,  HOWEVER, I am more than delighted to say that returning to the Holiday Village Coral Sea Resort has been a delight.  Staff have been so kind to us, nice to see  familiar faces who remembered us, and we have really been made to feel so much at home.
There has been a great deal of work carried out in the hotel since our last stay, all improving the premises and very much for the benefit of the customers.

So, with the sun shining, good food and good company, we are looking forward to the next few days.